Will 'stand your ground' apply in Des Moines murder case?

Police have charged Anthony Hartmann's stepdaughter Sera Alexander with first-degree murder in his death. Their relatives say Hartmann had long been violent, abusive and unpredictable.
Zach Boyden-Holmes/The Register

The outcomes for a Des Moines woman accused of killing her stepfather could vary widely depending on whether a judge allows her attorneys to use Iowa's new "stand your ground" law as a defense to the murder charge she faces.

The new law went into effect on July 1, almost two months after Sera Alexander shot and killed her stepfather, Anthony Hartmann, in the basement of her family's Des Moines home. But defense attorney Montgomery Brown is pressing to use the new law as a defense in the case, citing reports from family members that Hartmann had a lengthy history of abusive behavior toward his wife and family.

District Court Judge Robert Blink waded into the thorny debate Tuesday at an afternoon hearing where both sides laid out their arguments, at times dipping into the hypothetical.

During arguments from Assistant County Attorney Kevin Hathaway, Blink drilled down on whether a defendant who shot a person at "11:59 p.m. on June 30" should be barred from using a stand-your-ground defense if a person who did the same two minutes later has those protections under the new law. Among other things, the changes mandate that a "law-abiding" person has no duty to retreat before using deadly force if they believe that their life is threatened.

Hathaway agreed with the judge's summary of his argument, noting that lawmakers could have clearly made the law effective upon its passage if they wanted.

Blink responded a short time later that he was "deeply troubled" by the idea that two similar defendants could be treated so differently, but likened the situation to how Iowa law treats mandatory minimum sentences for juveniles. Before they turn 18 — no matter how close they are to a birthday — teenagers cannot be subjected to the mandatory minimums that crimes such as first-degree murder carry in Iowa.

“It remains undisputed that 18 means 18 and that may be arbitrary, but it is the arbitrary tipping point,” Blink said. “And that may be what applies here, too, that the tipping point is the bewitching hour on July 1, even though it would result in disparate treatment of two people who do the same thing."

Alexander, 29, could face a mandatory life sentence in prison if convicted of the first-degree murder charge. She has been free on bond since May 19 while the case winds its way through the litigation process.

Brown argued that the new law does apply to the case because it will go to trial after it took effect on July 1. Additionally, the Iowa Supreme Court has held in the past that a defendant cannot continue to be punished with a sentence if the legislature later changes the law in a way that makes that sentence less harsh, he said.

“This changes the eligibility for punishment," he said. "Without crime, there is no punishment."

Brown said that if he is allowed to use a "stand your ground" defense, there should be another separate hearing before the trial for a judge to decide whether Alexander is immune from prosecution. In that scenario, the burden would be on prosecutors to show that Alexander's actions fell outside of the new law, he said.

Hathaway said that, even if the law does apply, prosecutors believe they have evidence to prove a first-degree murder case against Alexander. Another prosecutor at a hearing in May described Hartmann's shooting as "unprovoked." Other court records indicate that Alexander shot him in the back.

Blink did not issue a ruling Tuesday and asked attorneys to write additional briefs on the procedural steps that would happen if the defense is allowed.